Nebraska made it out of Oregon with more than a loss. It came home carrying injuries, too.
Matt Rhule said Monday the Huskers were “really banged up” after the 17-14 defeat, and the extra time off from the bye week may not be enough for some of the key names who got hurt.
The biggest concern is defensive end Anthony Jones, who played through a broken foot in Saturday’s game. Rhule said Jones will need surgery and “he'll be out for a while.”
“If you watch the last play, the touchdown, Dylan does a nice job stepping up... Anthony comes off the edge and he's about that far away from knocking the ball out. Anthony played that whole game on that broken foot,” Rhule said.
Nebraska’s running back room took hits, too. Isaiah Mozee will also be out for a while, while Jamal Rule left in the first half after limited touches. Rhule said, “He couldn't go on it, but hopefully we'll have a chance to have him back against Washington.”
Vincent Genatone is headed for season-ending surgery.
With the depth chart thinner, Rhule said the backs need to do more when they get their chances.
“We need to block better for them. We need to find the runs that they run better,” he said.
“And we need to demand that they put their head down and turn a six-yard run into an eight-yard run ... We need to put our head down and get more yards.
We need better ID points. I don't know how long Mozee will be out.
I'm assuming we'll have Jamal back. So Jamal and Mekhi are both elite running backs.
I expect them to play really well. Kwinten Ives, Conor Booth, they'll step up and play well as well.”
Nebraska also had to deal with injuries up front and at receiver. Offensive lineman Gunnar Gottula left with a head injury, and Rhule said the hope is that he can return for Washington.
Brendan Black is trying to play through a broken hand with a cast, and Rhule praised the way he handled the Oregon game. “I'm proud of him for going.
He's going to have to figure out how to use that cast even better,” Rhule said. “Because he had one where he got bulled and doesn't have the hand to grab and put on his back ...
He hurt his ankle on that touchdown drive and battled. I was really proud of him.
I made a big deal about him in front of his teammates in the game.”
Jacory Barney also kept going after breaking a bone in his ribs. Rhule called him “as tough of a guy as there is.”
Even with all the damage, Rhule didn’t want the injuries used as cover. Justyn Rhett stepped in at safety and played well, Caleb Benning did the same, and Donnie Jones “continues to be everywhere,” he said.
“We lost a lot of guys in that game, and that's kind of the Big Ten. We're not going to say that as an excuse, because other guys stepped up,” Rhule said.
Jones finished the game with 46 snaps and now has 283 on the season, the sixth-most among Nebraska defenders. Only Jahsear Whittington, who has 289, has more among the defensive linemen.
Rhule also pointed to Mason Goldman as one of the players helping hold things together on the defensive line. Cam Lenhardt and Kade Piertzak, he said, also played well.
“So I think you'll see him play more. Cam Lenhardt played well.
Kade Piertzak played well. So we'll have to figure it out.
But I think the big message to our team is that every team in the Big Ten is beat up. You can't go on the road and play games at 10 o'clock at night ... it's just a challenge.
You can't do all the things that we do - the travel, the teams that we're facing - and not have your 2s ready to play.
“Whoever it is, they're going to have to step up.”
In Other News...
Oregon Exposed A Nebraska Problem That May Get Worse
Nebraskas offense spent a long afternoon trying to find any kind of rhythm against Oregon and never really did. The Huskers managed 242 yards on 67 snaps, with quarterback Anthony Colandrea doing what he could to keep drives alive, finishing 18 of 33 for 164 yards and a touchdown while adding 38 rushing yards and another score on the ground. Even with that effort, the bigger picture was hard to miss: the run game never got rolling, the passing game lacked separation, and the offense as a whole looked stuck in place.
The issues went beyond one bad outing, too. Nebraskas top running backs were held to 58 yards on 18 carries, the offensive line gave up a sack and five pressures, and four penalties made an already uneven night even messier. Injuries along the line and at running back only added to the concern, while receivers struggled to create the kind of space that can help an offense recover when the ground game is bottled up, leaving a problem that could be even tougher to solve if the same limitations keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Left Wondering After Two Late Replay Moments Swung Everything
For much of the night, Nebraska had a chance to leave with a statement win before Oregon finally nudged in front with 28 seconds left. The finish came with the kind of replay drama that tends to stick with a team long after the final whistle, starting with a touchdown catch by Kwazi Gilmer that was upheld after officials said there was not enough clear evidence to overturn it.
Then came the other moment that had Nebraska wondering what might have been. A potential late fumble by Isaiah Mozee was not reviewed, and the Cornhuskers kept possession as the game tightened in its closing stretch. In a contest decided by the smallest of margins, those two replay decisions became part of the story almost as much as the score itself. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Fans Have One Brutal Debate After Another Late Collapse
Nebraskas recent stretch has left fans stuck in an uncomfortable place: encouraged by how far the program has come, but frustrated by how often close games are slipping away late. The Cornhuskers dropped tight decisions to Indiana and Oregon after holding leads in both, a sequence that has sharpened the conversation around whether the progress under Matt Rhule is real enough to matter when the fourth quarter arrives.
Against Oregon, the offensive issues were impossible to ignore, with nine punts and little production on the ground, even as the defense did enough for three quarters to keep the game within reach. The broader picture still shows a team that has outperformed preseason expectations, but the debate now is whether thats enough when the same late-game breakdown keeps showing up in the toughest moments. [Read more 🡒]